Cute Dresses

I've never heard of his place before, but I got a catalog in the mail for this online store yesterday. I quickly flipped through it and found the dress above...it's $30! I have no idea if they are good quality or not but it's definitely cute (and maybe tragic that I didn't find it before our rehearsal dinner). A speaking of dresses - how cute would this be as a bridesmaids dress?
It is certainly something that could be worn again & could look so cute with the right accessories. Maybe green necklaces...

Flip Books

How cute are these? Save the Date flip books where the inside of the book shows someone tying a knot. You could easily just print a few pics out on your home computer and bind them together yourself (sewing, hole punch with ribbon). It wouldn't even have to be a knot - there could be three pictures of a ring being slipped on your finger. Love it!

**Update**

I'm Over it was nice enough to offer up a 15% discount on a jewelry lease or purchase! Simply enter code "sparkle" at checkout. Thanks, Sarah!

Delias Thompson Discount

After the post I wrote about her jewelry on Monday, Delias was nice enough to offer up a discount to With This Ring readers! When you make a purchase just leave the message "With This Ring" in the note to seller section, and you will be credited a 10% discount after the sale is final. Thanks, Delias!

Hidden Messages

I love this idea! Etsy seller Delias Thompson takes otherwise ordinary pieces of jewelry and personalizes them with a message of your choice. The two-sided bangle can hold as many as 200 characters - imagine inscribing it with a phrase from your ceremony (even part of your vows) and wearing it on your wedding day. There are also rings: I know that some guys propose with a plain silver ring so that you can pick out the engagement ring together, this would be the perfect solution. Also a great bridesmaids gift - the possibilities are endless!

Giambattista Valli

Designer Giambattista Valli is debuting his Spring 2009 Bridal Collection and they sent over a little preview of the dresses.
I like that they are structurally simple but have some beautiful details. I would have loved to have pockets in my dress.
If you like what you see, Bergdorf Goodman in NYC is having a trunk show Oct 28th & 29th. You can view all the dresses in the collection on the Giambattista Valli website.

Yes, Please...

This Almond Coconut Milk Honey Bath sounds heavenly. The perfect bridesmaids gift, hostess gift, or unexpected gift for your favorite blogger who just happens to love taking baths.

Jodi Renee

I am so excited to feature this wedding from the amazingly talented Jodi Renee. Jodi is a lifestyle photographer who shoots a select few weddings a year, and Janet and BJ were lucky enough to be one of those couples.
They were married on August 16th in Muskoka, Ontario which is clearly a lovely place to tie the knot!
I love this shot of Janet getting into her dress - doesn't she kind of look like Alyssa Milano?
One of my favorite parts of any wedding, the cake:
Check out the clouds in this series of shots, so great:
Check out Jodi's website and blog for more amazing pictures - I could stare at them for hours (and have). Thanks so much for sharing, Jodi! And don't forget that you have until Sunday night to enter the Le Viette giveaway. Have a great weekend!

Something Pink Initiative

Bride's magazine has partnered with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and asked 21 designers to create pink wedding gowns. Sales from the gowns will benefit breast cancer research, so by purchasing one you are not only getting a beautiful dress but contributing to a great cause in the process.

The dresses each have a tag that says “Something Pink” so you'll know that they are part of the initiative. And even if you fall in love with one but decide pink really isn't your thing, you can also order most of the dresses in white or ivory and still contribute to the cause. There are several dresses in the $1,000 range and three that are under $800.The issue of Bride's containing all the dresses is on newsstands tomorrow, but you can also see them online here. It's a tough call but I think the dress pictured above is my favorite!

Milk Bottles and Coasters

I adore these porcelain milk bottles from Etsy seller alyssaettinger. And while I am at it, I'll take a set of these knitware coasters too!

More Details...

As you may or may not remember, I wanted an altar made out of sticks in the worst way. I didn't get it. We must learn to pick our battles, no? I had resigned myself to the idea of not having an altar at all and then about two months before the wedding I decided that I absolutely couldn't live without one. So I called our florist and with absolutely no direction from me she provided the most beautiful arbor, complete with white and green flowers (I am not kidding, I believe my exact words were "Yes, put flowers on it"). The picture above is the arrangement at the very top of it and you can pretty much see the whole thing in this shot:Its a tragedy that I only got to see it for a few minutes, because I really just liked it that much. The candles and petals lining the aisle? That's a story for another day (I can't tell you how much I am fighting the urge to, after I gush about all the things I loved, write a post about the things that pissed me off. It would be funny, I tell you!) But anyway - on with the details. This is also one of my favorites, which happened to be a total coincidence:That's the flag on the boat which technically represents Gage Marina but also happens to be the first letter of my new husband's last name. I adore it. Onto a few shots from the reception! I don't think I got around to writing about this either, but we had a damask box filled with flip-flops for the taking:My Mom and I tied ribbons with the sizes around each pair...I have some pictures of the process somewhere that I will have to dig up. You can see one of the runners in this picture:Alright, I can't help myself. The tall centerpieces were supposed to have the ribbons out the outside of the vases, not wrapped around the actual flowers. There was a tall centerpiece on our table and I was actually confused for a second, thinking one of the girls put their bouquets in there for some reason...argh. And the green runners aren't at all what I remember ordering - I am stopping now. Time for one of the best parts:The cake was perfection, both in appearance and taste. It is actually buttercreme, not fondant, and I have no idea how that is done but I love it. It's kind of hard to tell how big the top layer is in this picture but I can assure you that it is HUGE. We took it to brunch the next morning and let 10 people have another slice, then gave my brother and sister-in-law a huge chunk for the drive home, and still we have cake left over. I froze a wedge that would amount to 4-5 slices for our first anniversary, and we're still eating cake at our house. I love it when there is cake at our house.

Details...

As I mentioned yesterday, we don't have all of the pictures back yet but our photographers have given us enough preview shots to let the discussion begin! The socks were a huge hit and we also took a picture of my feet in the middle of all of the boys in the wedding party, which I can hardly wait to see. I don't think the ring bearer actually made it down the aisle with the pillow, but it made for some pretty pictures!
I love this shot of my dress. It is hanging on the balcony of our honeymoon suite while we're inside getting ready. I didn't even see them take it out of the room! The only problem is that it gets me overly excited to wear it again. What do you think - can we have a party where everyone gets to wear their wedding dresses again? The grooms attire - he ultimately decided to wear a pocket square instead of a boutonniere (a word I am still completely incapable of spelling) and I have to say that I didn't miss the men in flowers at all. Initially I was kind of sad when he didn't want to wear one, but the day of I didn't think a thing of it!
I didn't have a chance to write about this before the wedding, but I actually got an early wedding present a few weeks prior to the big event. Brad ordered silver Irish wedding coins from Dublin and gave them to me with a note explaining that since neither one of our families have wedding traditions, he thought we should start one of our own ((sigh)). So after we exchanged rings we also exchanged coins (you can read more about the tradition here). The whole thing meant so much to me, so I love this picture: And now, the bouquet. Being the perfectionist that I am it will be impossible for me to go through all the pictures and not point out some of the things that went wrong! I really liked the overall shape and style of the bouquet, and it smelled so good. It's only downfall is that I really didn't want any greenery in it at all, a point I was sure that I drove home but must not have been as adamant about it as I thought. But alas, not everything goes as planned. It was made up of English roses and gardenias (hence, the amazing smell) and before I walked down the aisle I wrapped lace from my Mom's wedding dress around it and fastened it with an antique family brooch. I am sure there will be some shots of that to come!

Well Helloooooo!

I am back and we're married! It was the most beautiful day - family and friends gathered from all over, we were finally able to say "I do", and the weather could not have been better. Just as the ceremony was ending and we were heading out on the getaway boat, the sun started to set as if on cue...it was unreal. Don't get me wrong, not everything went according to plan, but despite all the little mishaps it was still lovely. Our amazing photographers have already shared a handful of pictures which leave me practically dying to see the rest. I'll space them out over a couple of posts in order to provide ample commentary :)

We debated about this one but ultimately decided to see each other before the ceremony. I think it's a really personal decision but it turned out to be the right one for us for sure. We met for the first time that day on a pier and you wouldn't know it by this picture but it was WAY more crowded that we expected! My bridesmaids were walking down the pier asking people if they wouldn't mind getting into their boats for just a second so we could take a few pictures, and they would turn around and look at me like we were bananas. But it was worth it:This is our entire wedding party, with the exception of the ushers. Two of the four attendants are family members and the other two are some of our best friends, so for us it was perfectly intimate. Apparently I was the only one that didn't get the "lean on the pole" memo:Me and the girls...they were both so adorable that I just kept staring at them all day. I still get all emotional just thinking about how wonderful they were. And the getaway boat, complete with two bottles of chilled champagne. It was by far one of my favorite moments of the day!